Ellen E Jones

Review: Alexander Armstrong's Real Ripping Yarns

This could easily have been just a rehash of jingoistic values, without the mitigating Python silliness - and sometimes it was - but Real Ripping Yarns also provided a novel lens though which to view a major change in British culture.

Review: Praise the Lord, Adam and Alex are back

Most admirable is that it never scruples to offend the churchy set in the front pews in pursuit of a punchline.

Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, TV review

This comedy about comedy would be unforgivably self-indulgent if Stewart Lee wasn't just as incisive on every other facet of modern life as he is on his own comedic genius.

Jonathan Creek preview

This evening, the mop-headed magician's assistant returns to BBC1 to solve another howdunnit, involving a West End play, a locked room and a grinning corpse.

Blandings, TV review

Blandings is a lot of fun. Harry Enfield doing his Cholmondley-Warner on steroids was just one of the several guest stars we're promised.

TV review: Sharon Rooney is affecting as ever as Rae

As ever, Sharon Rooney was natural and affecting as Rae. Her performance should provoke a painful twinge of recognition in even the most grown-up grown-ups, yet this is still a programme to make you wish yourself young again.

If you've been enjoying stand-up comedian Nick Helm's BBC3 sitcom Uncle, you'll be unsurprised to discover he was up to no good. There's only one more episode to go of this first, six-part series and while Andy (Helm) has formed a closer bond with his nephew Errol (Elliot Speller-Gillott), he's still, pleasingly, a truly despicable role model for the kids.

That was proved yet again this week as Andy juggled the affections of three women in a typically craven fashion: current fling Shelly, ex-girlfriend Gwen and Errol's music teacher Melodie. Andy's behaviour was so shabby, he even had to defend himself to an 11-year-old: "What are you? The girlfriend police? I can have as many girlfriends as I want!"

Meanwhile, Andy's sister, Sam was attempting to trade in her reliable but dull AA sponsor, for the übercool Susie, a former Mick Jagger groupie. Susie turned out to be yet another useless role model, but if Sam's after a genuine rock idol to hero-worship I have a much better suggestion: Viv Albertine from the Slits.

TV review: Danny Boyle tackles topic of the moment

Babylon's best scene was its opening one, in which several tooled-up, testosterone-addled members of the show's deftly cast ensemble were caught on camera phone bursting into a man's home and tasering his testicles.

Catherine Tate's Nan review

Most of this year's Christmas comedy specials have felt like barrel-scraping, but Nan could easily hold her own in a full series.

In the year that Monty Python announced their reunion, we also discovered their true heirs. The team behind Horrible Histories made this supremely silly fantasy adventure in which "the chosen mum" Debbie must save the puppet-populated world of Yonderland.